This book was so accessible and powerful. It touches on several heavy topics, including abortion, but never gets didactic. Bennett tells the story of two unlikely friends who meet while helping out at church one summer, each without a mother and each carrying the heavy burden of a terrible secret. The chapters open from the viewpoint of the church elders (or 'mothers') in all of their years of wisdom that these poor girls do not yet possess. It was so hard to watch the girls make mistakes, and live with the consequences that changed their lives, and the lives of those around them. The plot moves along quickly (I learned at the author reading that Bennett loves plot! Yes!) AND it is beautifully written, so many perfect turn of phrases. I marked so many passages.

"At home, loss was everywhere; she could barely see past it, like trying to look out a windowpane covered in fingerprints. She would always feel trapped behind that window, between her and the rest of the world, but at least in Ann Arbor, the glass was clearer."

"But she hasn't yet learned the mathematics of grief. The weight of what has been lost is always heavier than what remains."

And this passage at the beginning, when Nadia thinks that Luke must love her at least a 'little bit' - the refrain from the church mothers is a revelation:
"Oh girl, we have known littlebit love. That littlebit of honey left in an empty jar that traps the sweetness in your mouth long enough to mask your hunger. We have run tongues over teeth to savor that last littlebit as long as we could, and in all our living, nothing has starved us more."

Bennet conveys the complex relationships of mothers and daughters, and of female friendships so exquisitely. The story of these two women as they grow, and grow apart, was riveting stuff. (And I couldn't help but think about it as a polar opposite of Rich and Pretty.)

(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)